The Not so Great Life of Troy Bolton
by endingunplanned
Summary: What if Troy Bolton’s life isn’t all its cracked up to be? Are the pressures of basketball affecting his home life? What happens when his life seems to be crumbling beneath him, will his friends be able to help?
1. Chapter 1

* * *

The days after the city Championship seemed to fly by as Troy and his team only practiced harder. Sure that was a great win but lets face it, State was where it was at. If they thought some scouts would be at the city game then just imagine the amount at the State game. The boys of the East High Basketball team seemed to be on their last leg as they ran up and down the court during their afternoon practice.

"I'm going to need more hustle out of you boys if you want to win state this year!" Screamed Coach Bolton, head of the winning team. "That is pathetic Jason! Is that one hundred percent?" he screamed louder in the boys ears, they had been practicing for three hours in the hot sticky gym.

"Ill show him one hundred percent," growled Chad Danforth as he ran next to his best friend. Troy just rolled his eyes in his fathers' direction and ran down the court with Chad. He couldn't take many more of these practices, they were driving him insane, and soon his body was just going to shut down on him.

"THAT IS IT! ON THE LINE! NOW!" Screamed the coach once again as his assistant blew the dreaded whistle that seemed to pierce your ears as you ran through the gym. The team groaned and cussed under their breathe as they ran down to the line. Troy silently stood there, hands on his knees; sweat dripping down his face onto the slick floor, cursing his coach. On the court, there was no relation between them, he was the player and his father was the coach. He even called him Coach Bolton. He stood next to Zeke and Chad waiting for the whistle to be blown again.

As it blew the boys took off, running from one line, hurriedly bending over to touch it, only to sprint back to where they had started. It was the fifth time they had been called to the line today, ten suicides each time. It was to the point where they were hoping for an asthma attack just so they could stop the madness and sit out for a while.

Finally, after what had seemed like hours, coach blew the final whistle, signifying the end of practice as the boys slowly and tiredly walked to the showers like soldiers after a battle. They flung the heavy doors open to the locker room and a couple just collapsed onto the floor right there, breathing hard. Troy and Chad walked to their lockers.

"Dude, I don't think I can take much more of this," said Chad in between heavy breathes as he took his shirt off and threw it in his locker. "Your dad is killing us out there, how are we supposed to play if we can barely walk?" Chad asked him desperately, putting some deodorant on.

"I don't know, I don't know," Troy said sitting down and running his hands through his hair. "I think he is over doing it, you know? I think he is trying to hard, and the running, I don't think I can take that anymore, I mean Jason was running faster than most of the guys!" Troy shook his head and stood up, taking his own shirt off and starting to change back into regular clothes.

Troy and Chad pushed the gym doors open that lead into the hall of East High only to find two girls sitting on the ground helping each other with chemistry homework. They both were scribbling down notes out of a book with neat and perfect handwriting unknowingly being watched by the two boys until Taylor McKessie heard the squeak of one of their basketball shoes and turned quickly to look up and see them both.

"Hey guys!" she said excitedly standing up and pulling Gabriella up with her, "How was practice?"

"Horrible."

"Death deifying."

"No, Troy, death would have been better, and less painful."

Taylor looked sympathetically at the two boys, who honestly looked like they had just gone through a natural disaster, "Sorry guys, but the season is over soon anyways right?" she said hoping to spark a glimmer of hope in them.

"Yeah, doesn't it end after state?" asked Gabriella packing the last of her notes into her backpack as she looked at them.

"Yeah but then club starts up again," groaned Troy looking at Gabriella.

"It's a never ending circle really, but we can handle it, because we're amazing" smirked Chad as he looked over at Troy and laughed, the girls both rolling their eyes at him. They were something else, always cocky, nothing could crush their ego, and they were lucky the girls put up with it.

"Whatever," Taylor said smiling at Chad and his ego, her theory was that if they cut his hair, he would lose all of his egotistical ways, kind of like Samson and his strength, she laughed silently at that thought as the four of them began walking through the empty halls to the parking lot.

"Why were you guys waiting for us anyways?" Troy asked curiously as they walked down to their cars, ready to separate.

"Eh, we had finished our Academic meeting and knew it wouldn't be long until you guys were done, so we decided to wait." Gabriella replied as she gave Troy a kiss goodbye and got into her own car. Troy closed her door for her and watched as she pulled out and started home.

Chad was giving Taylor a ride home so he went up to Troy to say goodbye, "See you man, let's hope its better tomorrow." He said half-heartedly

"Doubt it." Troy replied getting into his own car.

Chad, still walking slowly, worked his way over to his car again, where Taylor was already sitting in the passengers seat.

"Another day down, not that many more to go," Chad sighed as he turned on his car and went to back out.

"It cant be that bad, Chad," replied Taylor as she buckled her seatbelt and turned on the AC.

"Oh you have no idea," he replied turning towards her, "He is a mad man, ruthless, I don't know what we are going to do, but at least I can leave practice, practice follows Troy home," They were now onto the main road

"Well like you said, it will be over soon," she said with a sigh as she looked out the window. Albuquerque was nothing special, sure it was green, with rather pretty mountains, but during the summer it when it was around 110 out, it wasn't all that fun, and within a few weeks it was going to be that way.

"So how was your Nerd Heard meeting today?" he asked with a smirk that earned him a glare from Taylor.

"Our _Academic Decathlon _meeting went just fine thanks," she said while rolling her eyes and putting extra emphasis on the title. "Almost set the lab on fire, but you know, nothing major." She said casually as she changed the station. Chad just laughed at her, they were pretty much the most unusual couple you would see around; even worse than Troy and Gabriella. Taylor was organized, practical, generous, and always thought of others. She was pretty much everything Chad wasn't. But they loved each other anyways, although neither would admit it to the other. They hadn't been dating for all that long anyways, and thought it would be awkward to just go out there and say it.

Chad slowly pulled into Taylor's driveway and put the car in park, "Here we are," he said looking over at her.

Taylor got out and grabbed her backpack and placed it on the ground, popping the handle out to roll it inside. She was about to shut the door when she remembered, leaned in and gave Chad a quick kiss.

"Call me tonight," Chad said

"I might," Taylor said playfully as she shut the door, but the window was still open, "I have a lot of homework anyways," she laughed as she began walking towards her door.

"Oh don't act like you wouldn't rather talk to me!" Chad yelled out the window as he pulled out of her driveway and began to drive himself home.

* * *

Meanwhile Troy threw down his car keys and was about to make his way up to his room when he heard his father calling his name. 

"Troy! Get over here there are some plays I want to run with you!"

Troy groaned tiredly as he slowly made his way back down the stairs and into the kitchen where his dad had his white board and marker, he carried it wherever he went. He listened for about an hour in a monotonic state as his dad ran play after play through him, asking him which guy is best, which play is best, how many seconds it should take. He even went as far as taking the roster from West and North high and sticking them into the play asking how he would defend each one. Troy found his eye lids drooping with the passing minutes, he still had homework and needed to shower and all his dad could talk about was basketball.

"And Troy what do you think of this—" His dad said before being cut off by the desperate boy.

"Dad, its great, it will work, we will do it, if number 22 from west was against me I would just go to the right, which is his weak side, now could I please, please just go upstairs, do my homework, and go to bed?" he asked exhausted, looking like he would collapse onto that stupid white board if his dad didn't let him leave.

"Well." Said his dad a little taken aback, "Im just trying to help you out Troy, I mean if you don't want this as much as the rest of our team who are we kidding here? You need to be focused more than anyone else out there and here I am, just trying to be a good coach, and help you out and you complain!" he was getting defensive, like he always did when Troy complained about the basketball overload. But what could Troy do, he knew if he kept fighting it, it would just lead to more conflict, so he just nodded, said a few 'I know's' and sat through another grueling half hour of wretched basketball talk before he found himself practically crawling up the stairs into his room. He collapsed onto his bed, forgetting about homework or his shower, or even his clothes for that matter and he was asleep within minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

**a/n- sorry for not updating in like...forever guys! Lets just say I hit a couple month writing block and it took a good friend to bring me out of it :)**

Troy woke up with a start as she glanced as his alarm clock. 7:00.

"SHIT!"

He never woke up late. He was usually at school by now because of his dad. But he knew he would have left without him by now and he didn't have much time until Chad would be gone as well. He popped out of bed and bolted to the phone pressing the number 8 on speed dial for Chad's cell.

"Hello?"

"Dude I need a ride."

"What about your dad?"

"I woke up late he would have left by now man!" Troy opened the door to his room and looked over the stair banister, just in case. His dad's keys were gone from the kitchen table.

"K Ill be there in fifteen minutes." Chad said looking at one of his three watches.

"Thanks." Troy hung up and threw his phone onto the bed. He ran to his closet and picked out some clothes. He ripped off his own shirt and threw it one the bed. He glanced over at it and realized that it was his practice jersey. He hadn't changed from last night. He suddenly realized how gross he felt. He put his hand on top of his head and felt the greasy mess that was his hair. He could practically feel the dry sticky sweat on his arms and forehead. He hadn't even taken his shoes off last night. It was like he had been in a mud fight, and then rolled around in the backyard before dumping a bucket of grease on his head. He sprinted to his bathroom; he was about to attempt the quickest shower of his life.

He stepped out 4 and a half minutes later and threw on his clothes. He rubbed his head and realized he hadn't washed all the shampoo out.

"God dammit!!" he screamed throughout the house before running into the bathroom and sticking his head under the sink. He grumbled to himself the whole time while making sure he did have every bit out this time. When he pulled his head out from under the sink his hair was rinsed, but now it looked like the shirt he had just put on was as well. It was like he was not meant to be on school on time today. He could barely contain his want to crush the mirror in frustration as he ran back into his room, found a new shirt, and through on some jeans. He slipped on a pair of flip-flops before running down stairs looking at his watch. 7:14. One thing about Chad is he was anal about time, never late, not even by a minute. Troy searched around frantically trying to find his backpack before finally locating it, unopened, and by his front door. Just as he slipped it across his shoulder a horn outside sounded.

He jogged across his front yard and hopped into the passenger seat of his best friends car. Chad was waiting there for him and once he got in, tossed him a hot pocket and started to drive.

"Thanks man."

Chad nodded, "Dude how sore are you right now? I can barely put my foot on the gas."

Troy hadn't even had time to think about how sore he had been, but as he now let the thoughts seep into his head, he found that he was in fact in pain. His aching legs screamed at the thought of even being stretched out and his arms felt like they were going to break as he put on his seat belt. He winced as he straightened out his posture and felt his back muscles stretch like an accordion. He didn't even want to think about his poor feet.

"I'm sore too Chad, it hurts like hell. I hate this, I can't wait for it to be over." He loved basketball, but how much could one guy take? At least Chad got to go home and talk to his mom about his entire day. Only the 3 hours after school seemed to matter to his dad, and his mom was on a business trip so there was no sanctuary there either. Troy sighed and looked out the window as he saw his school parking lot come into view.

* * *

Troy sat next to Gabriella before school started. 

"Troy you look so tired," she said this as she finished up a question from her Government work packet.

"Gabs I'm so beat, this whole practice thing is getting ridiculous." He laid his head on her shoulder, which made her smile and giggle, but she let him stay there.

"So tell your dad to take it easy, you guys are good, I'm sure he would understand you guys wanting a day off." She said this casually as she signed her name on the top of her paper and closed her binder. Troy sat up and looked at her.

"No, that is completely unreasonable. You cant just take a day off, it doesn't work like that," Taking a day off from a sport _was_ unreasonable, especially when state was coming up. He was lucky his dad gave the team Sunday off, which even he was out there, after church, shooting baskets until sundown sometimes. But still, that doesn't mean you just take the day off.

"Why not? Why shouldn't you get the day off if you have been working so hard? Or even a couple days off?"

Troy smiled at her, "Gabriella you can tell you have never played a sport."

Gabriella looked at him with her mouth open, she pushed him slightly, "What is that supposed to mean!?"

He now laughed a little at her, "It means a day off is out of the question, that just brings the competition one step up closer to our level, and why would you want to do that?"

Just then Taylor and Chad walked towards them, holding hands. Troy and Gabriella glanced over at them as they sat down by their table, Taylor sitting on Chad's lap and Chad's arms around her waist.

"What are you two arguing about now?" asked Taylor looking towards the two of them, Gabriella was the first to reply.

"I told Troy he should ask for a day off of team practice maybe they shouldn't practice on Saturday, I mean look at these two, they look dead." Troy and Chad exchanged glances and shook their heads.

"I don't see why that would be so unreasonable," replied Taylor looking towards Chad.

"You two are out of your minds!" said Chad laughing a little, "You cant just take a day off, that's insane. What? do you want us to lose?"

Taylor rolled her eyes, "That would not be losing to say the least Chad, besides if you give your body rest, then your muscles will have time to build up and get stronger, everyone knows that."

"Oh ya, everyone is a genius," said Chad poking Taylor's side.

"Don't poke me!" she said elbowing him in the stomach slightly causing him to let out a small oomph.

"Hey what was that for?" They were about to get into their disgustingly cute fights when, to Troy and Gabriella's relief, the bell for homeroom rung.

* * *

The floor of the gym was vibrating with the rumble of the boy's gym shoes as they sprinted across the floor. Troy passed the ball to Jason who took the shot from the three-point line; it went up, hit the backboard, and dropped to the ground. The dreaded whistle blew. It was their least favorite drill. No one really knew the name of it, they thought of it as death. Every time someone missed a shot, it would cost them a suicide. Troy never understood coaches thought process when it came to running as punishment for when you didn't do well. It really doesn't make you better. It just makes you tired so you can't do well; it pretty much has a reverse affect. It seems to be a coach's sly way to get you to run more when they have a bad day. Anyways today must have been a bad day, because it was getting ridiculous. The guys could barely lift their feet as they shuffled to the line, of course not hustling enough which, made coach assign an extra suicide. No one even was mad at Jason for missing, they knew none of them could have made it in their condition either. 

"If you guys cant get it done, we will run, that's how it goes," exclaimed Jack before he blew the whistle. The boys took off, running as fast as they could to the line, bending over and turning their cramping legs to run back, only to turn around and run even farther the end of line seemed to be so far away, like the edge the earth. All this while the coach yelled and screamed.

"FASTER! THIS IS NOT 100 PERCENT GUYS! THIS IS PATHETIC! DREW IF YOURE LAST THE TEAM WILL RUN FIVE EXTRA!!"

Troy turned his head to see Drew looking pained and running extra hard to keep up, his arms and legs moving as fast at he possibly could, crossing the line last even then. The boys let out a long groan, they knew coaches threats weren't empty. As they sat at that line, surviving through five suicides they didn't know if they could even hold a ball. Troy was fuming, why was coach doing this to them? They were giving their all out there! The guys looked horrible, pale and a lot of them couldn't even breathe anymore. The gyms air conditioning was never that great, and their shirts were soaked with sweat. He turned his head to see his best friend shuffle over to the garbage can and throw up.

"You guys wouldn't be running if you could just produce. You think West looks this bad? No!" Troy lost it.

"Coach you are being ridiculous!" he screamed with his hands on his knees, sweat dripping from his tired face down to the gym floor.

"Excuse me?" asked his father as he set his clipboard down on the bench and put his hands on his hips.

"This is insane! West is not working harder than us, neither is Dobson, or North, or Pinnacle, or any of those schools that we are going to have to face!" The other boys heard what was going on and started to gather around, looking like they just got out of a huge fight, even Chad stumbled over and worked his way into the middle.

"Well I—" his dad didn't know what to say; he had never been confronted by a player before, let alone his son.

"You are killing us out here Coach, there are not going to be any of us to play the first game on Friday if you don't lay off!"

Jack was about to tell Troy off. How dare he confront him like that, he was the coach, his word was final. He opened his mouth to yell when the other guys started getting in on it.

"Ya coach we are giving you everything out there."

"This running is killing us coach."

"Please."

He listened to them all and sighed. Troy could tell he was battling with himself and what he wanted to do, finally he said, "Maybe you guys are right, but if I let you leave early, promise me you will practice a little at home tonight, shoot some free throws."

The boys looked like Christmas had come early and had given them everything they had ever dreamed of. The nodded quickly before coach blew the final whistle and let them into the locker room.

"That was great in there man, amazing," sighed Chad as he threw on his regular clothes.

"Ya I guess, I feel kind of bad blowing up like that," Troy was unsure, his dad had looked so mad before the rest of the guys had come into the conversation.

"No, it needed to be done, I'm going to go home and ice myself…everywhere," Chad looked at his three watches, "Taylor should be getting out soon, Ill go wait for her," He started to walk off as the usual rumble of voices went, "WHHHHHHHIIIIPPPPPEEEDDDDD!" He flipped them all off as he walked out of the locker room which caused the whole boys locker room to erupt into laughter.

Troy stepped into the car with his dad who was silent. He placed his bag on the ground and put his seat belt on. The silence was so intense, not the usual silence when two tired people got into a car and didn't want to speak, this was tension. He could feel it filling up the car and suffocating them. He looked up at his dad who was staring straight foreword. His hands clutched the steering wheel so hard it made his knuckles turn white.

Troy couldn't stand being this awkward, he wanted to apologize but at the same time didn't want to talk to his dad just yet, he looked too angry. He reached over and turned on the radio, only to have his dad immediately turn it off and look back onto the road.

"Uh…Dad? I'm uh…I'm sorry I yelled at you today, I shouldn't have done that," he looked towards his father and coach, who didn't even act like he had heard him, just stared at the endless road. The car ride went on like this until they got home. Troy walked into his dark house and placed his bag on the floor.

"Troy," his dad said as he walked in.

Troy turned around only to meet a huge fist coming towards his temple. It came around and hit him square on the side of his forehead above his ear. It came at him too quick to react and the blow was hard. The hit sent a wave of pain in his forehead like someone had just thrown a cement block at him and he blacked out for only a second before opening his eyes and catching himself before he fell to the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

The wind rustled outside Troy Bolton's window, causing the eerie tree outside to scrape against the glass in the fading sunlight. Troy sat in his room on his bed thinking about what had just happened. It seemed like it went by so quickly. His dad had been fine, then blew up at him…only to calmly say after he hit him to go up to his room. It was like his dad was a hurricane and Troy was caught right in the middle, only to land in the eye of the storm after he thought everything was going to be ripped from his grasp. He traced the oversized hand mark on his face with his fingers. The blow had left it red and burning with little red bumps all over it. His mind was racing over everything, trying to think of what could have caused his dad to do this. Jack had never hit him before, besides when he was little and did something wrong, but that was different. He ran through the whole ordeal, it went in slow motion in his head. Setting the bag down. A cold hard fist hitting his temple. Black. He thought back to basketball practice. What he had said in front of everyone was inappropriate. _Maybe I deserved it._ He thought this as he rolled over on his bed, trying to sleep even though it was only six and Chad would probably be calling soon to hang out, he was not in the mood. As he was about to give up and actually do his homework he heard a knock at the door.

He got up quickly and opened the door to see his dad smiling at him. He backed away inelegantly and opened the door. His dad walked in casually, like it was just another day. Troy leaned against his bedroom wall awkwardly with his hand behind his neck. He searched his dads face for any sign of anger. He peered into his hollow eyes like he was trying to look through a fogged up window. He saw nothing.

"Hey, you want to go get some ice cream?" His dad asked like he hadn't just hit him a half hour ago, his body was relaxed. He was dressed in sweats and a _WILDCATS BASKETBALL_ t-shirt his car keys dangling in one hand.

Troy was not sure how to react to this. Was he joking? Was this some sort of trap? He stuttered trying to find his words at first but finally managed to reply, "But what about basketball? You wouldn't want me to be out of shape…would you?" He looked way to cautious, he was on guard and ready to run just in case his dad tore off the Mr. Nice Guy mask and got on him again about his missed lay up or something. But that didn't come, instead he thought he heard wrong as he saw his dad's mouth open up, and laughter pour out like a waterfall.

"Its ok, Troy. One milkshake isn't going to hurt you," His dad looked at him like he had been ridiculous to even think for one second that that be the case. He motioned for Troy as he walked out of his room and started heading down the stairs. Troy was looking at him like was insane, not quite sure what to think. He pinched his arm lightly to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep as he carefully followed his dad down the stairs and out into the circular driveway of their house, and into the pearl colored escalade. In between this time he had come to the conclusion that his dad maybe had just lost his temper and was trying to make it up to him. He settled easily with this conclusion, now thinking he was crazy for thinking anything of it, it was merely a slip up, that was all. All though he had to admit the whole milk shake thing was pretty freaky. And as he battled with his racing mind he decided it was even more odd than the fact that his dad had hit him.

His dad and him talked basketball as always on the way to the local Sonic, his dad even asked a little about Gabriella, and then about Chad and Taylor and how they were doing. His dad never seemed interested in his private life. Ever. It was so weird he had to text Chad about it.

Message sent 6:18 PM to Chad the Man

Dude, my dad is acting so weird.

-Troy the King

Message sent 6:20 PM to Troy the King

What d ya mean???

-Chad the Man

Message sent 6:21 PM to Chad the Man

Dude he is buying me ice cream

-Troy the King

Message sent 6:23 PM to Troy the King

WTF DURING BASKETBALL SEASON!!?? IS HE INSANE!?

-Chad the Man

Message sent 6:25 PM to Chad the Man

IKR? I don't know why…it's so weird.

-Troy the King

Message sent 6:27 PM to Troy the King

Dude…get me some.

-Chad the Man

Troy rolled his eyes as he snapped shut his phone as they pulled into the parking drive through and ordered, without getting Chad any, of course. As he marched back up to his room to start his homework that night, stomach full of peanut butter fudge milkshake, he tried once again to run through that nights occurrences. Without much success he lied down on his bed, kicked his shoes off and called his favorite girl up.

"Hello?" answered Gabriella a little impatiently, like she had been in the middle of something.

"Is it a bad time?" Troy asked putting his hand over his eyes to block out what little light was peering through his window

"Oh hi Troy!" she answered sounding a lot less angry, "No now's a great time, I need a break from Cal anyways, that class will be the death of me."

Taylor and Gabriella were both in AP calculus as juniors, and the teacher was a short old lady who might as well grow horns and hoofs because she was nothing less than the devil. It seemed like the girls rarely had time for that, Scholastic Decathlon, AND THEM, which was the most important of course.

"You need to get away from that stuff Gabs, it's stealing your time away from me, and we all know you hate that."

You could practically hear Gabriella rolling her eyes on the other line, "Yes Troy, that is my deepest concern," she couldn't help but smile at his little comments, she was head over heels for that boy.

"Anyways, you are going out with me next Friday, just you and me," Troy said this as he took his hands off from his eyes and looked out his window down onto his basketball court where his dad was shooting hoops, he found it odd he hadn't dragged him down to play with him, but he was thankful he hadn't.

"Oh and I have no choice in this matter?" Gabriella said while writing a last equation down on her paper before closing her Cal binder.

"Ok, ok. Gabriella, would you like to go out with me next Friday?" He asked with slight pleading in his voice.

"Of course, I would love nothing more than spending the day with you Troy Bolton," she felt a shy smile spread across her face at the thought of even being near Troy, the same goofy smile spread across his as she accepted his offer. They talked for another hour before hanging up when Gabriella's mom reprimanded her for being up late and not having all of her homework done. They reluctantly hung up after wishing one another sweet dreams. Troy lay there just smiling, daydreaming about her and how she made him feel. He was going to take her to the carnival that Friday…and he was going to tell her he loved her. He had fought with himself over it for a while. Gotten about just as many "WHHHIIIPPPPEEDDD" comments from Chad as he could handle before he finally admitted to himself, and to practically everyone except Gabriella that he really had fallen for her. Even Taylor knew, he was quite sure of that by the sly smile she gave him every time they passed in between classes. But he couldn't help how he felt. Every time that girl entered his mind his stomach did a back flip and he couldn't help but just smile and think about all they had been through. He did however become slightly annoyed when he thought about rehearsals, which were cutting into his practice time. This made his dad extremely irritated, thank God Darbus had been absent these past couple of days so there were no rehearsals, besides they were still learning lines and "bonding" as a cast, so it was no big deal if he missed until state. He sighed as he thought about how it would go next Friday, and fell asleep thinking about her face, every inch of it that he seemed to know so well. He dreamt about her lips and how they felt against his, her soft hair as he ran his hands through it, her sweet smile whenever she saw him. She was perfect for him. And he loved her.


	4. Chapter 4

"IIIIIIITTTSSSS FRIDAY!!!" Rang over the loud speakers of the school as Troy Bolton dragged himself through the open doors of East. He silently cursed the man behind the microphone saying those words so loud as he made a mental note to subtly hint that Chad throw him in the garbage can at lunch that day. He was not feeling good and he had worn track pants and a sweatshirt that day and was not too proud to announce that he already smelt like he had swam in a vat of mud.

It wasn't his fault; his dad had woken him up early for morning practice in his front yard. When he groaned his complaint his dad just tore his blankets off and tossed his clothes at him muttering something about being lazy and not focused. By the time his dad let him out he had ten minutes to get ready and he didn't think it possible to take a 4 and a half minute shower so he simply dressed and wet down his hair before hopping in the passengers seat of his dads car, nodding and grunting at any question he asked him. This is how it was a lot of Fridays. It was a rule of thumb that Friday practice was supposed to be easy which meant everyone was in a good mood, everyone except Troy.

Friday meant morning practice for him. His dad felt it was a necessity for him to do it since practice that day would be so easy. As he walked through the halls he thanked the lord he had remembered to put some cologne on which covered some of the smell. He walked over to their morning table and sat down next to Gabi.

"Hey Troy," she said smiling as she kisses his cheek and then made a face, "Ew you're all sweaty," she laughed as he put his arms around her and enveloped her in a huge bear hug despite her protests of the fact that she would now smell like boy. He managed a laugh at this but Gabs could tell he was tired.

"Troy what's going on you look like you didn't sleep last night."

Troy groaned as Chad and Taylor walked up together as he uttered the horrid two-letter phrase, "Morning practice."

Chad took in breath sharply, "Oh sorry man, that's rough." He said as he sat down next to his own girlfriend as she pulled out her homework.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Troy that's ridiculous why is he doing this to you hasn't he ever heard of the phrase coming on too strong?"

"Obviously not, I have practice tonight too…after real practice." Troy said as he laid his head down on the bright red table. Gabriella ran her hands through his hair sympathetically.

"You might not want to do that," he smiled, "Do you not just remember that hug, I'm sweaty."

She smiled as she ruffled his hair, "I don't care." She leaned over and kissed his cheek before saying, "I'm excited about tonight."

Troy sat up, he had just remembered, "Oh ya tonight! Ya you best be ready by six." He laughed and remembered what he had planned for that night.

"Oh I will be don't worry, any hint to where we are going?"

"Of course not," and with that, the bell rang.

The thought of him getting to be with Gabriella managed to get him through not only school, but even practice. He jumped into the shower when he got home and actually managed to smell good before grabbing his keys and heading towards the door.

"TROY!" His dad yelled from the other room.

"So close," Troy whispered before walking into the extravagant living room.

"Be home by nine thirty at the latest for practice."

Troy rolled his eyes but agreed knowing it was no use to argue as he hopped into his car and driving to Gabs house. Was about to go knock on the door and say hi to her mom when Gabriella came through the door and hopped in on the passenger's side, leaning in to kiss him.

"Missed you," she said as he started the car and drove off. He smiled as they talked for while before he turned into the parking lot of the carnival. Gabriella gasped with excitement as the colors of the carnival blended together, everything was so bright and colorful Troy couldn't help but be in a good mood.

He parked and paid as they entered the place, holding hands and walking side by side. They walked around for a while before finally decided on a game. The giant bear smiled at them from above and Troy paid the man before taking the gun and trying to pop the balloons to win it for Gabriella. She laughed as he missed everyone but one which earned her a plastic ring.

"I suck," Troy laughed as he slipped the plastic ring on her finger, kissing the top of her hand after doing so. Gabriella blushed as he pulled her into another hug.

"I want to try," Gabriella said pulling out her wallet. Troy gently shoved her hand out of the way and paid the guy for her, which earned him a glare as she picked up the gun. She lifted the scope to her eye and aimed carefully, she shot the dart gun, which flew straight into the balloon, popping it.

"Well there is at least another ring," Gabriella laughed as she re aimed and shot, shooting the other balloon and popping it. Troy watched in disbelief as the man working the stand laughed at the fact that he was being shown up by his own girlfriend. He watched her pop every other balloon, to the shock of him and the man who according to his nametag was named Stan. He pulled down the huge bear and handed it to her as they walked off.

"I can't believe you won that," Troy said as they walked together, her clutching the huge bear that almost dragged on the ground.

"I claim beginners luck," Gabs laughed innocently as they walked through the site, "I'm sure you would have been able to do that too Troy…with a little practice," She smiled slightly in his direction as he poked her side and shot her a fake glare.

"Just for that," he said steering her towards a massive contraption, "you have to go on the Ferris wheel with me."

"Troy no!" Gabs cried looked up at the huge circular death trap.

"Oh come on Gabs, nothing is going to happen you'll be fine, I promise."

Despite her constant protests he managed to get her on the ride and strapped in next to him. The bear sat safely smiling at them with the ride attendant as the ride started. Gabriella squeezed his hand tightly as they were lifted into the air.

"Oh God," Gabs said as Troy put an arm safely around her laughing at her.

"Don't laugh!" Gabs said, "Heights is a legitimate fear you know!"

Troy tried to hide his smile as he nodded pretending to understand. Gabriella rolled her eyes and was going to move away but then the change of direction caused the wheel to give its default shake, making her cling to him instead.

Troy continued to tease her as they came back up around and although he would never admit it, Gabs was hurting his hand by squeezing it so much.

"You have to admit Gabriella, the view is amazing."

She did admit that quickly before sticking her head in his chest again.

"Gabriella you are being ridiculous it may be high but its safe, nothings going to happen."

Troy felt the irony of speaking too soon come into play as a loud crack was heard from down below and the ride came to a sudden stop. Gabs at first thought it was one of the normal sounds, which meant she clutched him harder and then settled down after a few seconds, but when she noticed it wasn't moving she slowly looked up from Troy's chest.

"What's going on?" she asked with a shaky voice.

"Uh…it seems as though the ride is…um…paused?" Troy said lightly despite Gabriella's panicked face.

"Oh my God, why are we stopped? Troy this ride isn't supposed to stop. Why are we stopped, are we stuck?" She looked really shaky as Troy took his hands in hers.

"Gabriella we are fine," he said from the highest peak of the ride as maintenance men tried to fix it below them. "Its just…routine maintenance…that's all."

"Troy I really don't think they do routine maintenance while people are on the ride."

Her eyes started to water as she looked down and let out a slight squeal. She breathed in deeply as a tear rolled down her cheek. Troy looked at her and wiped it away before taking her two hands in his.

"Gabriella, look at me, look at me," he said firmly as the teary eyed girl gazed into his eyes with her deep brown fearful ones. She sniffed back more tears as the guys down below could be heard calling for more help.

"We are going to be fine, we are going to sit up here and they are going to fix this, and then guess what?"

"What?" she asked, a few more tears falling.

"You are going to get off and laugh at what a big deal you made this, you are making yourself panic, now calm down," he shifted a piece of her hair behind her ears, "I'm here, and I am not going to let anything happen to you."

She nodded trying to calm down but letting more tears fall anyway, he quickly wiped them away and leaned in and kissed her. His lips brushed against hers as he placed his hands protectively around her and drew her closer to him. This innocent kiss lasted a few moments before he softly broke it and looked into her eyes seeing the once panic stricken face more calm and less teary eyed. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "I love you Gabriella." He then looked up to meet her doughy eyed gaze as she leaned in and kisses him, "I love you too Troy," she smiled forgetting about where they were or how they got there or even her fear and just saw him and his gray blue eyes staring back at her. She felt her heart melt as he placed a hand behind her neck and kissed her again. The two were so engaged in their embrace that neither realized that the Ferris wheel began to move again, or they both realized and didn't care, either way they finally parted when it was there turn to get off. Troy grabbed the bear happily holding it for her as they walked a ways. His free hand took hers as he smiled, he hadn't remembered being this happy before as he looked up at the giant clock in the center of the carnival. Panic seeped into his veins as he did a double take and looked at the clock again, which read 9:20.

"Shit is that right?" he asked no one in particular as he pulled out his phone way worried than any normal human being should be. The clock was in fact wrong…it was actually 9:25. Troy groaned and pulled Gabriella in the opposite direction towards the parking lot.

"Troy what's the matter?" she asked concerned as they went through the gates of the Carnival and towards his car.

"My dad is going to kill me, I'm late for practice."

Gabriella gasped. His dad already hated her and she really didn't relish in the idea of giving him more excuses to do so. They pulled out of the parking lot and sat in mostly silence as Troy went a little too fast to get her home. He pulled in ten minutes later into her driveway.

"Bye Troy, and good luck, call me if you are still alive," she kissed his cheek and whispered, "I love you." She then walked into her house and waved as she closed the door. Troy waved back and smiled as she closed the door replaying that night's event in his head. Only for a second did he forget the reality of the situation as he quickly pulled out and drove five more minutes to his house. The car clock read 9:45 as he uneasily got out of his car and hopelessly made his way inside to find his dad sitting in the lazy boy. He stood up and walked over to Troy, who seemed to be more aware of how big his dad was with each step he took towards him.

"You're late," he said flatly as he was now face to face with his son.

"I know dad I'm sorry, I was out with Gabriella and—"

"Oh. I should have guessed she would have something to do with it, she is always making your priorities go out of check." He crossed his arms and laughed, though his face was serious.

"Dad," Troy said with a dangerous tone, "Gabriella is not a problem, she is fine and I would appreciate it if you would keep her out of this."

"She's a problem if she makes you late Troy, you can't just miss basketball like that. You have a priority to your team to be the leader, and she is standing in your way of a state championship by causing you to be late. Is that what you want? To lose the championship?"

"No," Troy said defeated.

"That's right you don't, and she isn't helping you achieve that goal, therefore, she is a problem."

"Dad she isn't a problem stop saying that!"

"Troy we aren't having this argument," his voice had been calm, dangerously calm, just how the beach is calm before a huge storm hits its shores, "Now get out there and practice."

"No dad we are having this argument, you can't keep treating her like this you don't even know her!" Troy was not usually one to yell his dad let alone anyone for that matter, but he was way out of line.

"I don't need to know her to know that she isn't good for you Troy yet you cant see that!"

"She is good for me Dad she is the best thing that's ever happened to me!" His face was beet red as he screamed at his dad.

"No Troy, the greatest thing that ever happened to you was basketball, now get out there and practice dammit." He grabbed his arm forcefully and pulled him towards the door in the kitchen leading out to the court.

"FUCK YOU I LOVE HER!" he screamed and caused his dad to stop in his tracks.

"You don't know what love is, and don't you ever, ever speak to me like that, Ill show you love." He violently pressed Troy against the wall and hit him, he hit him so hard Troy's head flew back and bounced off the stucco wall behind him. He lost his balance for just a second and by the time he regained it his dad was coming in for a second blow that seemed to hit harder than the first. He grabbed Troy's shoulders and forcefully slammed him into the refrigerator causing magnets to spray everywhere as he grabbed the handle to keep himself from falling. Fuzziness glazed over Troy's mind and he had trouble focusing on where he was and what was happening, he felt a blow to his ribs as he clutched them and slipped to the ground. Everything was growing darker as his knees hit the wooden floor below him, echoing in his head were the words that his dad spoke as he walked up stairs, "Practice is cancelled." At that point total darkness invaded Troy's mind and senses as he slipped into it, welcoming it instead of the pain.


End file.
